The Explanation (9)

¹Before the universe began to be,
and all that it consists of and contains,
the Word already was. He is the Power,
the Explanation, and the Reason for
all things. He was before all things with God,
and He was God. ²Yes, He was with God when
the universe and all that is began
to be, ³and He created everything.
Apart from Him, without His will and power,
not anything that has been made was made.
⁴In Him was life, eternal life, the light
of men, ⁵which shines into the darkness to
expose unrighteousness with grace and truth,
and show the way to life. And darkness has
not overcome it, no, nor ever shall.

⁶God sent a man named John. ⁷He came to be
a witness to the Light, that all who heard
him might renounce unrighteous ways, and through
the Light believe. ⁸This John was not the Light;
he came to testify about the Light
and to prepare the way before Him. ⁹For
the True Light, Who gives light to everyone,
was coming to the world. ¹⁰And He was in
the world – which He created – yet the world
did not acknowledge Him. ¹¹The Light came to
His own, but they did not receive Him. ¹²But
to all who did receive Him, and believed
in Him as Word and Light and Life, to them
He gave the privilege of becoming God’s 
own children, ¹³born of God by grace alone,
and not by any works of flesh or will.

-        John 1.1-12 

He came to restore
On one occasion during His ministry, Jesus of Nazareth announced that He had come to earth from His place of rule within the spiritual realm in order to seek and to save lost men and women (Lk. 19.10). The gospel of John and the other three gospels are the record of Jesus’ earthly sojourn, during which He came almost exclusively to His own people, but they did not receive Him.

He came unto His own people, seeking those who were lost, confused, frightened, burdened with shame and guilt, desperate for hope, and longing for more of life than Roman Judea was able to provide.

And upon finding those lost people, Jesus gave them exactly what they needed most, as He restored them to their proper relationship with God, making them His children, and Him their Father.

This is the great privilege of all who embrace Jesus of Nazareth as the Word and Explanation of all things. What does this entail?

Jesus knocks
John explains. First, in order to be restored to God and to know and enjoy Him as the loving and sustaining Father He is, it is necessary to receive Jesus.

We might think of receiving Jesus like receiving a guest into our home. First, we must acknowledge that someone is at the front door. Someone is knocking, or ringing the doorbell. Someone is announcing his or her arrival and desire to be present with us.

When this happens, we can do one of two things. We can ignore that announcement, acting as though we don’t hear it and going about our business in the hope that, sooner or later, the person announcing his or her presence will simply go away.

It’s possible that you have been doing this with Jesus for many years. You’ve seen the churches throughout your community, which exist to announce the presence of Jesus in our midst. You’ve known people who have embraced Jesus, and perhaps have even talked with you about Him. You’ve seen representations of Jesus in the media, pop culture, and in great works of art from all traditions. Perhaps you’ve experienced the presence of Jesus in the kindness or sympathy shown you by a Christian friend.

Indeed, it’s pretty hard to miss Jesus’ announcement that He is knocking at the door of your life (Rev. 3.20). The British poet Gerard Manley Hopkins insisted that “Christ plays in 10,000 places,” and if you will but reflect on your own experience, I think you’ll agree that you’ve been confronted by that knocking many, many times.

But so far, have you chosen to ignore it? Hoping He’ll just go away?

He’s not likely to do that, friend, since He came to earth and has sent His followers to seek people just like you and me.

Your second option, when someone is knocking at your front door, is to open the door and receive the person into your home. Invite him in. Engage him in conversation. Find out a bit more about him, and let him get to know you.

That doesn’t mean that immediately you have to change everything you’ve been or are doing in order to become just like your visitor. Receiving your guest doesn’t necessarily mean turning your whole life over to him all at once.

Your guest may be the kind of person who is worthy of such a commitment. But it might take some time to discover whether this is so.

However, if you don’t receive this person into your home, and begin the process of entertaining his presence and getting to know him, you’ll never know for sure.

Receiving Jesus
I recall one funny situation that happened with Reagan, our granddaughter, when she was about three years old. Susie, Ashley, and Reagan were out on the back deck, having a relaxing time in the early evening shadows. I came to the French doors leading out to the deck to watch them, whereupon Reagan, with great glee in her voice, pointed at me and said, exuberantly, “Look, it’s Granddad! Can we let him out!”

What harm would come to you if, knowing that Jesus is knocking at your door, you would respond by saying, “Ah, look: It’s Jesus. I shall let Him in”?

But what does that mean? Jesus’ own people did not receive Him. They didn’t want to get to know Him. They were happy for whatever benefit He might bring to their lives, but they weren’t interested in what He had to say about Himself, or about the mission He’d come on in search of those who were lost, or what God might actually require of them.

In order to receive Jesus you have to take Him into your presence and spend a little time getting to know Him.

You could do that quite easily.

First, get a Bible and begin reading the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection. If you begin with the gospel of Mark, that will provide a kind of bare bones outline that the other gospels can flesh out. After receiving Jesus in the gospel of Mark, go on to Matthew, then Luke, and, finally, the gospel of John.

You could read all these in one week, but I would advise you to take your time. Read slowly and thoughtfully. Remember that these are not “fairy tales” but real historical records – thousands of manuscripts exist from near the time of Jesus which include these gospels. You’re reading a true story about a real Man Who came to be the Explanation of all things and to seek and save the lost.

Give Jesus a fair reception by allowing the words of those who knew Him introduce you to someone Who’s been knocking on your door for a long time.

Go on from there to read about the Apostle Paul. His story begins at the end of chapter 7 of the book of Acts. There we find him a primary opponent of those who were serving Jesus in that day. Read Acts 8 and 9, then chapters 13-28, and discover how one brilliant young man, who for years resisted the knocking of Jesus, finally received Him, and began a whole new adventure in life.

Finally, find someone who knows Jesus. If you can’t find someone, let me know, and I’ll connect you with someone (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), so that you can talk about what you’re learning, ask questions, and get the perspective of someone who not only has received Jesus but actually believes in Him as well. We have plenty of friends in our Ailbe Community who delight to talk about Jesus and would be happy to help you receive Him.

Receiving Jesus, Who is knocking at the door of your life, could be the beginning of a whole new direction in your life. It could mean that your life might actually start to make sense. You might find in Jesus, as countless millions have, the Explanation for all your questions, concerns, fears, doubts, and hopes – for all your deepest longings and most heartfelt desires in life. You might discover Him to be the Truth about you and all things, the Way back to God the Father, and the Life you’ve always wanted for yourself.

But you’ll never know unless you receive Him first.

Let’s try this: Whether you have already received Jesus or not, connect with someone who has received Him and believes in Jesus, and ask that person why Jesus is the Explanation for his or her life.

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